Micron 24GT/s GDDR6X Memory in Production: In Time for Lovelace
Micron has quietly started volume production of GDDR6X memory chips featuring a 24 GT/s data transfer rate. The new memory devices are expected to be used by some of Nvidia’s upcoming high-end GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards based on the Ada Lovelace architecture.
Micron’s new 24 GT/s GDDR6X chips have a capacity of 16Gb (2GB) and can be used to build graphics cards with loads of memory onboard (via @Harukaze5719). It is expected that these ICs will be used for Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, carrying 24GB of GDDR6X memory connected to the GPU using a 384-bit memory bus (and therefore offering a peak memory bandwidth of 1.152 TBps, assuming that Nvidia will use memory at its highest rated speed). Other products from the lineup are rumored to use slower GDDR6X devices with an up to 21 GT/s data transfer rate.
In addition, the 24 GT/s GDDR6X memory chips are projected to be used by Nvidia’s next-generation flagship graphics board currently known as The Beast (sometimes referred to as the GeForce RTX 4090 Ti), which will carry 48GB of memory on both sides of the card (and will likely be the best graphics card available in terms of raw performance in the coming months).
Nvidia is rumored to formally introduce its GeForce RTX 40-series ‘Ada Lovelace’ products this fall. Therefore, it is about time for Micron to kick off volume production of its next-generation GDDR6X memory chips with an up to 24 GT/s data transfer rate.
Neither Nvidia nor Micron have officially commented about usage scenarios of 24 GT/s GDDR6X memory chips, so take unofficial information about Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 40-series lineup with a grain of salt. Meanwhile, Micron is certainly starting production on this memory that will be used by one of its clients. At present, the only company to support GDDR6X is Nvidia.
It is noteworthy that Samsung has been sampling its 24 GT/s GDDR6 (not GDDR6X) memory chips since December, 2021. So Micron has some speedy competition.